Pumpkin Run Pulse

Last summer (2016) I was walking and exploring a gravelled river-trail in New Harmony, IN. It’s an easy trail where folks cycle, walk, jog and ride around in golf carts.

Since a good bit of it winds along the Wabash River, and meanders through the countryside and woods behind the village of New Harmony, it offers beautiful scenery that’s used frequently by locals and tourists. It’s one of my fav go-to spots to take friends who aren’t yet used to cycling the more technically and physically demanding single-track dirt trails in Harmonie State Park. This one is wide and comes complete with park benches in several places.

​It also comes complete with a big, whopping Bald Eagle. It roosts in a trail-side tree for several hours a day, contemplating whatever big, predatory birds contemplate--possibly, probably, deciding on who or what its next meal might be.

​My friend J. and I were heading west on the trail, where it loops toward the Harmony Way Bridge, which is thankfully still intact. While we walked, a local lady and her little grand-daughter came alongside us in a golf cart. The lady asked if we’d seen the eagle yet. We hadn’t and she offered to ride next to us to show us where it roosted.

Several yards up the trail, there it was, sitting on a big dead limb of a tree, right next to us. About the time I got my phone in position to get a pic, it launched and flew across the river to sit on another dead tree. We could still see it easily but my little phone cam didn’t have a strong enough telephoto magnification to get a decent shot of it.

It was my first eagle to see in the wild. Daddy and Uncle Ron would have appreciated the moment as much as I did.

In the months that have passed, I’ve seen several, and one of them is hanging out on the fringes of our village, here in Stewartsville, Indiana.

They don’t play well with others

While J. and I visited with her, she briefed us on her own few years of experience with the eagle. It’d taken a keen interest in her grand-daughter the first time it saw her.

In the beginning it quietly observed the little girl from its perch--watching her like a hawk. (Pun intended.)

As the months went by, the two saw the eagle often and the eagle saw them. The grand-daughter wasn’t a toddler, but still small. At the time, she was somewhere in the three-to-four-years-old range.

Big enough to love walking, running and exploring along the river trail with her grandma, yet small enough for the eagle to come in for a closer look. One afternoon, it leaped from its perch and swooped down, then straight at the little girl.

Thankfully, it didn’t connect with beak or talons. Instead, it lifted and moved around, up and away. Seems she didn’t meet the size and/or weight criteria for what it could manage to carry for a take-out meal.

Impressively, the little one is undaunted. She’s now a few years older, yet petite, and still loves to visit the trail, even near the eagle’s perch, but with practiced caution.

​Other local encounters & observations

​While driving on a country road, though fairly well populated in Gibson County, I saw another eagle flying low, over a field. It was being harried by two huge hawks who’d obviously been having steroids with their snacks after workouts at the hawk gym.

The eagle couldn’t outmaneuver them, and ultimately dropped a round ball of brown fur, some 20 feet, into the field below. It veered away from the hawk-horde and swooped into the edge of a nearby wood-break at the edge of the field.

The hawks turned back and pounced on the little fur ball, then tore it to pieces while the eagle watched them eat its dinner.

Wasn’t something I ever want to see again.

Near the same time frame, a friend in the area was walking her little dog, that I’m quite attached to (both the friend, her family and their dog), and a couple of hawks took a big interest in Maizie while she was out with her mama or a potty-stroll. Since then, the family has been cautious to watch for the prey-birds when the dog is outside.

Another nearby incident, just a few miles from the village, included a woman and her little dog. She had the dog on a leash, in her front yard, on the main drag of a small town near the village. Faster than she could have imagined, a hawk swooped in, grabbed her little dog and tried to fly off with it. Reacting in surprise, the woman pulled on the leash before the bird had her pet more than a little ways off the ground, and the bird released it.

The little dog was emotionally traumatized but otherwise, mostly unharmed.

​Both hunt. Both eat.

​I’ve seen more and more large hawks, and now eagles, hanging out in our area. If you live in an area that is encountering the same sort of feathered residents, I’m featuring this information here to encourage you to be mindful of them, especially in regards to children and small animals or pets in your care. For eagles, hawks and even owls, your neighborhood, yard or garden can easily become a fav fast food joint. Just sayin’...

​ShoutOuts

​The wrap!

That’s it for this one!God bless you, thanks for the read, thanks for the tips and thanks for your interaction with the indie biz pro bloggers! You’re awesome and we appreciate you!Hope to have you back again next week!femmeflashpoint​

I always enjoy where the eagles gather. I was fishing Lake Superior's Keewenaw Bay about a mile out on the ice. i was catching lake trout we called "fats." They weren't good to eat even though we had and there were two or three eagles about a hundred yards away on the ice watching me. I decided to throw a couple of the lake trout there way and watched them pick the trout up and fly away. It was a nice day.

Reply

Angelia Phillips (femmeflashpoint)

4/5/2017 07:34:06 am

Hi Warren,

We're not seeing lots of them in one area here yet, but they're definitely making a comeback.

I'm amazed at the resilience of creation considering the heavy saturation of chemicals here, in the rivers land.

It's a wonder wildlife thrives here at all.

Thanks for your visit and comment!

Reply

Kimmie

4/4/2017 09:05:01 am

They are indeed beautiful but that is scary to think they will swoop down on a small child or pet. We see several large hawks and birds up here and I am always watching Penny as I thought they might see dinner. You only confirmed this thought . The picture is beautiful and they are doing only what they are born to do. :) thank you for sharing!
Hugs
Kimmie

Reply

Angelia Phillips (femmeflashpoint)

4/5/2017 07:41:18 am

Kimi,

Couple years ago, before moving here from Texas, I did some research through old newspapers in the Midwest, from the 1800s thru early to mid 1990s.

I found that eagles made the news often, for swiping infants and toddlers.

While cycling in a local state park last week, I stopped to alert some guests there who aren't locals, to let them know their little doggies were the right size for eagle snacks.

The owner thanked me for the heads up and said he had no idea any eagles and big hawks were in the area.

This was interesting. We have literally hundreds of these eagles, and sometimes you see every branch of trees near the landfill occupied by them. They like their meals live, of course, and I've not seen exactly why they congregate there, but I'm surmising they're involved in rat control, which is fine by me.

People seem to be conscious that little dogs are viewed by the eagles as another meal, but they seem to mostly gather at the landfill area. It's quite a sight.

Good advice. They are fast food specialists!

Reply

Angelia Phillips (femmeflashpoint)

4/5/2017 07:51:01 am

V,

Hard to believe that not so long ago they were on USA's threatened and endangered species' list.

Now they're thriving.

You know I love birds but seeing a big group of eagles hanging out in our trees would be right spooky, lol.

Hi Ange,
For the past couple years, we've had a hawk 'couple' in our hood.
They don't hang out with us for long as Andy and Zoey have a bit of an issue with it... they certainly liven the place up - oh and the hawks do too... ;)
Have a peaceful weekend. Love and hugs, mar

Reply

Angelia Phillips (femmeflashpoint)

4/10/2017 01:14:10 pm

Prof. Mahreer,

I'm happy the hawks aren't wanting to hang out with you and the Jordan tribe!

If I could arrange it, I'd make it so all predator birds only hunted and ate bugs and snakes. Then I'd like them hanging out a whole lot more than I do now, lol.

Thanks for the visit and the comment!

Reply

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